


Sunshine, Butter, and Freshly-Baked Bread

by nekomisu



Category: Code Geass
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, Bakery AU, M/M, Rated teen for now- may be changed for later chapters, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekomisu/pseuds/nekomisu
Summary: Modern AU in which Suzaku works at a bakery full-time while attending Ashford University part-time. Lelouch is a full-time student and happens upon Camelot Bakery. He instantly becomes enamored with the man kneading bread dough behind the window. They become friends and slowly become closer together over the course of the fall semester.
Relationships: Kururugi Suzaku/Lelouch Lamperouge | Lelouch vi Britannia
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Sunshine, Butter, and Freshly-Baked Bread

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know if we'll finish this but wanted to put it out there :) If you have any suggestions let us know!

_Bzzt._ Lelouch was hurriedly walking to class when he felt his phone buzz. A notification of some sort, probably an email. He didn’t get many texts, especially this early in the morning. Lelouch fished his phone out of his pocket. An email from his teacher- he tapped the notification to read it.

Attention students of class POL2245, your class has been delayed 30 minutes due to traffic. I am unfortunately stuck in that traffic. If you don’t show up to class I will still mark you absent unless you have an excuse. Please be seated in class by 9:00 am.

-Dr. Brown

Well, there was no reason to rush now. The once hurried pace slowed to a more relaxed one. Thirty minutes was a decent chunk of time to spend in the morning, he could have actually made breakfast at home had he known. There was a bakery on the next street over that was frequented by the college students here at Ashford Academy. The breakfast pastries were highly rated among the student body, it wasn’t rare to see a student holding a bag with the bakery’s logo on it during morning classes. Lelouch knew of it, but he hadn’t found much of a reason to make time out of his schedule to go until now.

Lelouch typed in the name of the bakery into his phone, checking if it was even open. It was just before 8:00 am, and some breakfast places weren’t open until 9:00 am. It opened earlier than most of his classes, which means he could stop in every once in a while if the food was good. He crossed the mostly empty street, taking a turn onto the road that had a chain of buildings, the bakery nestled on the far right end as the second-to-last structure.

He walked into the small storefront, a small bell ringing to announce his presence. The smell of freshly baked pastries filled his nose immediately, almost making him salivate a little. He saw someone enter the back room through the door, but paid it little mind -- there were employees here after all. 

“Good morning,” he greeted the cashier as he walked up to the front desk. It was being run by a friendly-looking woman with shoulder-length purple hair and curled bangs that parted on the right. She looked to be a bit older than college-aged, but not by much. She was pretty, so maybe that’s why he heard the recommendation from Kallen earlier in the semester. There were fewer tables there than he had fingers on both hands, and all of them were vacant. It was pretty early, only 8:15 am, and a lot of college students weren’t up yet. At least that meant it would be quiet.

“Could I get a…” He paused for a moment, scanning the blackboard behind her, “-a cornetti, please?” It was the first thing he saw that he recognized, he didn’t have enough time to try anything new. The woman told him the price and he handed her this card, noting that this place was relatively inexpensive compared to the grocery store pastries nearby. That’s probably part of the reason the college students loved it so much. He took the pastry with a polite smile and sat down near the far side of the shop, so if anyone came in he wouldn’t be disturbed. He was somewhat surprised to see a window looking into one of the back rooms, with someone prepping some dough.

It was a nice touch- gave him something to watch while he ate, at the very least. It was probably to prove that their products were made fresh. Lelouch watched curiously as a man with short, messy brown hair dumped a batch of dough onto the worktable, starting to lift it up and work it into a smooth ball. The white chef uniform he was wearing fit him nicely, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he kneaded the dough in front of him. He must be strong, judging by the way he was kneading it so expertly. Lelouch had helped his sister make bread once and his entire upper body was sore for the rest of the day. To do this as a job must be an intense workout. 

\-----

Suzaku picked up the pastry cutter that sat along the side of the workbench, taking care to slice the large dough-ball into evenly sized portions. Pulling a small food scale from the shelf underneath the bench, he set each roll on top to ensure they all weighed the same. Suzaku took care to shape them into perfect rolls, tucking the seam underneath the ball. He scooped each carefully onto a pre-lined baking sheet and covered them with plastic wrap, leaving the room to place them into the proofing drawer to rise a final time.

He took another batch of dough from their storage area. Scooping a generous amount of flour, he spread it on the workbench and dumped the dough upon it. It was a fairly mindless process, after doing the same thing for two years, one tends to get a feeling for it. It allowed time for his mind to wander. He had worked here quite frequently, taking as many hours as he could handle before the owner put a stop to him. _‘You can’t work that many hours, Suzaku. I’m giving you a day off. You need time for your classes too!’_ Lloyd had told him, noticing the lethargy he had exhibited for a few days prior. Lloyd and Cecile were married and owned the shop together, though opening a bakery was mostly on Cecile’s insistence. The couple had treated him generously, looking after him as if he was their own. 

Still, the job paid decently. It allowed him to rent an apartment alone and gave him enough cash to take a few classes. Experience in the job was more important than a culinary degree in the long run. Even if he did have to wake up at 3:00 am four times a week in order to get everything ready in the bakery for the day. Between getting the baking sheets ready, popping the frozen pastries in the oven to cook, and getting them all displayed attractively, it took a long time. Cecile helped where she could, but baking was not her strong suit. The part-timers were never there in the very early morning, but it was appreciated when they could show up.

\-----

Lelouch took a small bite of the cornetti, the sweet syrup drizzled on top a nice touch to the otherwise generic pastry. ‘I wonder if he made this as well, or if there are other bakers farther back,’ he wondered, his gaze never really leaving the man. He was quite attractive- curly brown bangs clipped back as to not get in the way of the kneading, the glimpse of arm muscle you could see before disappearing into the clean, but obviously worked-in white chef’s outfit, the way his face was concentrated on the task. This was a good choice for a breakfast stop.

He finished the pastry, keeping his eyes on the good-looking man kneading the dough. It only now occurred to him to look at his phone- it wouldn’t be good to be late to class so early in the semester. The bakery was only a couple of minutes from the campus, which was his only saving grace. It was 8:25 am, only 5 minutes until his class started. Shit. Lelouch grabbed his bag quickly, threw out the trash on his way out the door with a quick “Thanks!” as he left. The second he was on the street he started sprinting to his destination, no way would he be late to class. 

\-----

Suzaku continued his work, finding the continuous motions calming. He only looked up when he heard the scuffle of a chair being forcefully moved across the floor, watching the man run out the door. Suzaku had seen him when he entered the store earlier, but it wasn’t like college students were a rare sight around here. It wasn’t notable until now. "Wonder why he's in such a rush?" Suzaku shook his head lightly, shrugging and continuing on with his job.

Even with just the cursory glance from earlier, he was sure he had never seen that customer before. He worked full-time for the shop and attended Ashford University part-time, so he had a good grasp of the college-aged population on campus. He worked because he needed the money in order to put himself through college. His father had passed only a few years ago, and most of the money had been inherited by his mother who had disowned him the second he turned into a legal adult. The money he had was a pittance compared to what he should have gotten, but it was enough to put aside for his future endeavors.

Suzaku hummed to himself as he worked, idly wondering if that guy would stop in again.


End file.
